


The Wait

by fingalsanteater



Series: More Than Friends [1]
Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Brief Sexuality Issues, Canon Related, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Gen, Introspection, M/M, Not Really Character Death, POV First Person, References to Canon, Suicidal Thoughts, Underage Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-13 18:17:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3391451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fingalsanteater/pseuds/fingalsanteater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Waiting to find out if his best friend is alive or dead leaves Marco plenty of time to think.  </p>
<p>This is set before and during the scene from book 26, "The Attack," in which Jake and Cassie kiss for the first time, but from Marco's POV.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wait

**Author's Note:**

> This takes quotes directly from "The Attack," by K.A. Applegate. No copyright infringement is intended. Also, referenced are "The Predator" and, briefly "The Escape."
> 
> Please heed the tags. This fic features underage characters in mild sexual situations. If this bothers you, do not continue reading. Any negative comments regarding the underage content will be deleted. All underage content is directly from canon.

Waiting was the hardest part. People think waiting thirty minutes for a pizza or waiting for next week's Buffy is bad, well I'd trade places with them in a heartbeat. Try waiting to find out if your best friend is alive or dead after you saw him plunge off the side of a miles high platform while locked in battle with an indestructible alien. Yeah, I'd take waiting to watch Buffy over waiting to find out Jake was dead any day.  
  
Cassie was sitting quietly, wringing her hands. Tears stained her cheeks. She didn't look defeated, but hopeful. I envied her optimism.  
  
Rachel was full of nervous, angry energy. She stomped around in a tight circle, her expression stormy. She was pacing, but I'd always imagined pacing to be a quieter, more aimlessly broody affair. Her steps seemed more purposeful than that, like she wasn't expending her furious energy, but winding her self up to strike harder and faster next time. I wished I could share in her anger.  
  
Ax's emotions I could understand. His head and eyestalks drooped, he scuffed his front right hoof awkwardly against the floor. He felt like a failure.  
  
I felt worse than a failure. I felt like nothing. My despair was so overwhelming, so all encompassing, that the only thing I felt was the physical sensation of nausea. I stared at the gray alien flooring, my brain empty of everything except for the harsh fact that Jake was probably dead. He had to be dead, unless he'd morphed a bird. But, if he did, then he couldn't fight that Howler. So, he'd still be dead.  
  
These were the thoughts that went around and around in my mind. Circling like a vulture, I thought hysterically.  
  
My stomach churned and I felt like I was going to throw up. I wrapped my arms around my middle, wishing fiercely that they were someone else's arms. My dad, my mom... Jake.  
  
Jake wasn't really a touchy-feely type of person, except with Cassie. We never hugged, and when we did, it was always pretty much just a brief, awkward slap on the back. The best I ever hoped for was a friendly shove or hand on my shoulder. Sometimes, though, I did want a real hug, as hard as it was to admit. Like, those kinds of hugs where people just hold each other for a long time and it's not weird at all, but comfortable and warm. The kind of hugs that make you feel safer, even if you are feeling scared and awful. My mom used to give hugs like that.  
  
I still distinctly remember the jealousy I felt when Cassie and Jake, in their wolf and tiger morphs, nuzzled each other when we were captured by Visser Three. It was so petty to feel jealous, but I did. I wanted someone I could nuzzle when I was scared, like now. Cassie would probably welcome me, but that petty, jealous feeling buzzing in my brain prevented me from going to her. I was too caught up in my own misery besides. The only one who could make me feel better now was Jake.  
  
I don't know why I was thinking about all that now, but I guess your mind goes to strange places when you are in pain. I used to have a lot of weird thoughts after my mom "died," and then probably died a second time. Fantasies of how I could have saved her, times when I couldn't believe she was dead and I thought my life was a dream, and moments when my desperate desire to see her left me wondering if dying might be better than the pain I was feeling.  
  
Ax's surprised shout of <Prince Jake!> startled me. My head jerked up automatically, looking for the source of his outburst. It was Jake! I would've stumbled to my feel and ran to meet him, but the hot rush of relief and joy at seeing him had me reeling.  
  
Cassie beat me to it anyway. I watched as she leapt up and ran to him. It was like something from a romance movie. She jumped into his arms and they embraced, their lips meeting in a kiss that looked so sweet and perfect. It sounds sappy, but that's what it looked like.  
  
The sight of them kissing sent a jolt of emotion through me-- jealousy again. It wasn't strong enough to overwhelm the shock and excitement of seeing Jake alive, it was there in the back of my mind. I hated it.  
  
I stood up just as Jake was setting Cassie down. My legs were shaky. Jake didn't stop kissing her until both of Cassie's feet were back in the floor.  
  
Besides Rachel's complaint that it was about time Jake and Cassie kissed, no one had said anything. The cacophonous wheezing of the Iskoorts didn't allow us to enjoy a stunned or awkward moment of silence. But, we still stood there dumbly, happy to see Jake alive and kissing Cassie, like we briefly forgot we were trapped in some Suessian nightmare fighting for our lives.  
  
I wanted to throw my arms around Jake also, to feel his heart beating and know that he was really, truly alive. Not that seeing him alive wasn't good, but my hands ached to touch him, to feel how alive he was. But, he looked so surprised and out of his element that I just couldn't bear to shock him by doing something so out of character. So, instead, I did what I'm good at; I turned the whole scene into a joke.  
  
"What, no kiss for me," I said, holding out my arms to him. He stared at me, incredulous. He wouldn't bite, I knew. He'd just stand there and stare, maybe laugh. Problem was, this little voice in the back of my head kind of wanted him to hug me, at the very least.  
  
At the very least? I had a sudden flashback to watching Jake and Cassie kiss. What was it like to kiss him? The idea flitted through my mind, like a mosquito looking to draw blood. Furrowing my brows at the weirdly intrusive thought, I squashed it quick before it struck.  
  
"No?" I asked Jake, trying to keep my voice normal. I was still a little off-kilter. I didn't handle emotions very well, or weird thoughts about kissing my best friend. Who was a guy.  
  
I rounded on Rachel, my favorite go-to target for a little teasing. "I guess I'll have to turn to Rachel." I said, puckering my lips and holding out my arms to her.  
  
She threatened me with bodily harm, her typical modus operandi. I laughed as she grinned manically and threatened to break my arms. Our weird little group was back to normal for a brief second; the near death experience was pushed to the backs of our minds.

Which was just fine with me.


End file.
